


Maybe, Maybe, Maybe

by crestedhearts (orphan_account)



Series: Red Strings (Sephiroth) [4]
Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:32:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24385108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/crestedhearts
Summary: Sephiroth finally visits you once again after months of mysterious feathers appearing on your nightstand. He gives you neither the answers you wanted or the hope that you needed from him.But you could try, and it's the best you can do.
Relationships: Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII)/Reader
Series: Red Strings (Sephiroth) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757899
Comments: 22
Kudos: 103





	Maybe, Maybe, Maybe

AFTER THAT INTERESTING situation with Cloud, you found yourself falling into a plain--and someone repetitive--routine. You would wake up in the morning, get yourself ready for the day, and open up shop. You would then spend most of your day serving your customers, who seemed to triple as tensions among ShinRa and AVALANCHE rose to a head, who only wanted a peaceful hour or so to themselves without worrying about their electricity bills. After that, you closed for the night and retreated to your attached home and wrote in your journal whenever your memories got to be too much.

Sephiroth never did show back up again--but you would always wake up with a feather lying on your nightstand, each one more unique in shape than the last. You had been getting flight feathers at first, but they gradually downsized until they were small little puffs, then grew larger again as if he was trying out some interesting pattern you couldn't understand.

Over time, as your visits with Aerith, Cloud, and Tifa became less and less the busier they became, you had come up with a sort of peace around the idea of Sephiroth being your soul mate. You had managed to gather some information from those Turks who seemed to favor you so much, of whom you had learned the names of: Reno and Rude. They liked to sample your teas when their shifts were over--did Turks even have shifts?--and ply you with idle conversation while the crowd thinned out for the evening.

Reno entertained you immensely, much to Rude's chagrin, with his quick humor and sly remarks. He told you what you wanted to know when you asked him, but you had a feeling he was feeding you the same load of bull that President Shinra was pushing on the press. He did, however, offer you a tidbit of information that you couldn't figure out what to do with: "Angeal always did say he had a very droll sense of humor. Nice, but droll."

They hadn't shown up for the last two days or so, but Rude had been polite enough to send you a cute little postcard with Chocobos on it telling you that he and Reno apologized for not showing up and that they were busy, which you could understand. There was no return address or anything, but he had left you a quick smiley face doodle as a result.

Without your Turk acquaintances to take up your time, you managed to close up shop early and head to bed. For some reason, you had been getting sluggish and weak, and a glance at your calendar indicated you had somehow forgotten to drink your moon teas--the tea leaves that kept you from dealing with debilitating cramps during your cycle. You would be playing catch up at this rate, so you put a note on the door saying you were ill and for your customers to try out Tifa's bar, Seventh Heaven, while you recovered.

You were delighted to receive bouquets of flowers from your long term customers, fresh and straight from Aerith's garden, or cute knittings from the older women who would give you the most adorable sweaters in return for a month's worth of tea when they had no money to give. One particularly nice lady had sent you an herbal remedy for pretty much anything and everything, wishing you the best and hoping you would get better soon.

For the better part of the night, you sifted through your pile of gifts, reading each handwritten letter and card, giving them their own little places in your room. You pinned a lot of them to your wall so you could see them, remind yourself that you had a reason not to go back to your old life. The money had been good, but it had not been worth the damage you had taken to your morality in the long term.

With a tired yawn, you gathered up the remaining cards to read for another day and placed them on your nightstand. As you reached for the lamp, intent on cutting it off and settling down, you looked towards the window, some urge pulling you to, and locked eyes with Sephiroth himself, the mystery that had been plaguing you for over two months now since his last appearance.

You slowly lowered your hand from the lamp, bewildered, eyes growing wide. "Sephiroth?"

He never moved from his spot at your windowsill, never blinked when you pulled back your blankets to stand and go to him. "I see that you are well loved in this community."

"I love my customers. They're very kind to me even when they know nothing about me." You hovered near him, just out of arm's reach, clutching your night gown out of anxiety. It had been so long since you had been in his presence that you didn't know what to do; combine that with the fact that you could see him as clear as day and that he was your soulmate and you felt like a blubbering mess. You tried to ignore the golden, silver, and purple strings tying you to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were well." Sephiroth inclined his head, green-blue eyes shining brightly. "Should I not have?"

"No, no, I--It's not that… I meant, why are you here in Midgar? Isn't it dangerous for you?"

"You've been digging around, haven't you? And you got your answers, it seems."

"I didn't get an answer to everything," you protested. That tell tale amusement flickered in his aura. "Not the important things."

"You may ask me, if you'd like," he began, watching your hands flutter over the hem of your gown sleeve,"but I will not guarantee an answer."

You frowned but kept your composure underneath his stare. "Okay, fine. I can deal with that."

"Then we have an accord. Go to your bed. I will linger until you tire of me." He seemed to indicate that he had no intention of answering your more important questions, frustrating you to no end. You did get under the blankets, though, secretly delighted when he moved closer to sit in the chair by your desk. "Ask."

You made yourself comfy, propping up your back on your pillows and crossing your legs Indian style. "I keep hearing these rumors--that you betrayed Shinra and went your own way. Is that true?"

"It's the most polite way of putting it, but yes. That's true."

"Can you tell me why?"

He gave you a secretive little smile that was a very clear and definite 'no'.

"Fine. Did you know we were soulmates?" You asked bluntly, getting down to the core of your questions instead of beating around the bush like you intended. "If you did, why didn't you tell me when you knew I was blind?"

"To spare you some of the pain. To spare myself of hope." His tone was surprisingly honest, but in a way that told you he had thought it over many times and came to the conclusion that this was what was right to him, what made the most sense. "There is no reality where you and I could exist peacefully in this world."

"That isn't up to you to decide."

"Perhaps. But it is the best decision for you; you love this place, these people." His eyes grew cold, those slit irises narrowed to thin points. "I do not."

"What about me?" You questioned. Your voice was hoarse, trapped by the thick knot that had formed in the midst of making very dark connections in your head. You could only guess what had brought him to such lengths of hatred. "Does my happiness not matter to you, either?"

"No." Your heart felt like it had been smashed to smithereens at his matter-of-fact answer. "No, but I don't know you. It's only a small fondness; a kind memory to know that you exist. Maybe one day, it would matter to me, had I grown to love you. But it does not and so, we are here."

"I see." You tried not to let it get to you. You did, you really did. You had had some hope that your soulmate, the only one you would ever have, would give you a chance. Would allow you some form of happiness or contentment with them even as a friend. This was so much worse. "Do you think…"

"Yes?"

"Do you think…" You glanced up at him, then away. "Do you think you could try?"

"Try to what?"

"To love me? To grow to like me? To get to know me? Be friends--I'd be fine with being friends."

You watched him silently soften at your suggestion, unaware that you felt his aura cling to yours like a bur. You could feel that he was trying to strengthen his resolve--this idea that you were better off without his influence in your life, that he was the "bad guy" in this story. He couldn't do it. The soulmate bond dragged him back and made him pliable, open to suggestion.

Even his eyes, as hard as chips of ice, softened, his irises expanding larger than you had seen them when he had first shown you his eyes.

"Maybe," he whispered. As if trying to convince himself. "Maybe."

That was all the hope that you needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all. This killed me to write. I know it's not as angsty as it could have been, but I could just see Sephiroth delivering his lines as brutally honest as possible. This series is going to be pretty long now that I've fleshed out a definite end, but I don't say how long it'll be until I'm positive about the fillers and such.
> 
> Also, thank you guys so much for the love! I'm drowning in flattery over here! If I could dedicate this to more than one person, it would be for all of you! Thank you so, so much!
> 
> I try to reply to everyone's comments but sometimes I forget or the comments never post, so if I didn't reply, I'm sorry! I'll get you next time!
> 
> ♡
> 
> Also, I have a Tumblr for you guys who want to ask me questions and send in submissions and stuff (like requests for headcanons and all those nice things)!
> 
> It's all lowercase (@ sahbibabe )!


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